Leandro Negre dismissed talks that FIH was interested in hosting events in India since it would guarantee them a good profit. (TOI Photo)
NEW DELHI: A week after taking away the Champions Trophy from India, theInternational Hockey Federation (FIH) on Tuesday announced the allotment of the event to New Zealand and gave enough indication that India may be barred from holding or participating in future events if they don't put their house in order.
New Zealand, ranked No. 7, also replaced world No. 9 India in the event, which features the top eight countries of the world. India, however, have instead been invited to play as the top-seeded team at the Champions Challenge in South Africa in November.
The development came just hours before a meeting between top officials of the FIH and the sports ministry, where the ministry was expected to raise the issue of shifting of the event with the world body. FIH is upset with the sports ministry-brokered truce between Hockey India and Indian Hockey Federation which made them both eligible to run the game in the country through a joint executive committee.
Sports minister Ajay Maken made it clear that he was not happy with the announcement. "The meeting went as usual and the announcement did not make us change our strategy. But it certainly affected the mindset before the meeting," Maken said after the meeting.
"It was FIH which had come up with the offer of holding the Champions Trophy in India. Any decision on the event should have been taken after a discussion. It's not proper and we have conveyed our displeasure to Negre."
But the FIH president said it was just a coincidence.
"It was decided at the executive board meeting in August to take it away from India and give it to New Zealand. It's just a coincidence," Negre told TOI on Tuesday.
On the face of it, the development doesn't look like a co-incidence and is surely going to create a deadlock in Indian hockey as the FIH seems to be in no mood to recognise the tie-up.
While for FIH, the IHF "does not exist", for the ministry it's a key part of any solution since IHF has been reinstated by the apex court. It can't simply wish it away.
The FIH, strangely, is not prepared to look into the legal angle in the imbroglio. If the deadlock persists, the world body hinted it might spell trouble for Indian hockey.
"It must not continue as it's not in anyone's interest. Joint settlement is not acceptable. We are not thinking of giving them a deadline, but we need a solution in the next few months. With the Olympic qualifiers and the Olympics coming up, we need a solution," FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather said.
Asked whether the Olympic qualifiers, to be held in Delhi in February, could suffer the same fate as the Champions Trophy if the situation continues, Negre simply said: "I am sure there will be a solution (by then)."
Maken was also confident that the issue would be sorted out by February. "We have some time till the qualifiers," he said.
Negre, meanwhile, dismissed talks that FIH was interested in hosting events in India since it would guarantee them a good profit. "People say that FIH came to India to make profit. But that's not correct. We are committed to developing hockey in India," he said.
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